2023-2028 Anti-Bullying and Anti-Violence in Schools Plan

The Anti-Bullying and Anti-Violence in Schools Plan aims to encourage greater well-being at school and prevent bullying and violence in all its forms.

Research in education has show that well-being at school is essential to student development, educational success and student perseverance. Therefore, the Ministère de l'Éducation (MEQ) has developed a plan centered on prevention for all students and staff in Québec.

The measures in the new anti-bullying plan are divided into four broad categories:

1. Document: To analyze and understand situations of violence in schools in order to plan effective actions to implement based on different needs and contexts
2. Train: To ensure a sense of well-being among students and school staff, foster the development of individual personal and social competencies and to prevent violence at school
3. Raise awareness: To encourage communities to be more aware of and involved in preventing violence and increasing well-being at school
4. Support: To provide schools with ongoing and effective support for the prevention of violence and bullying and the promotion of positive mental health

Different strategies will be implemented gradually by 2025:

Document incidents of violence and bullying in schools to gather clear and accurate data that will allow the MEQ to better understand, prevent and take action based on the different situations experienced in schools (Document).

Provide training to students so that they can develop greater personal, social and emotional competencies. This knowledge will be beneficial to all young people not only during their schooling, but also throughout their lives (Train).

Provide training to teachers and school staff so that they are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to support their students in developing those same competencies (Train).

Create an advertising campaign aimed at preventing violence and bullying to raise public awareness in Québec, especially among parents, and convey key messages, particularly regarding the prevention of violence and bullying (Raise awareness).

Organize an annual week that focuses on the prevention of violence and promotion of well-being in schools with the goal of taking time to reflect on and discuss the different initiatives and experiences that took place during the school year, to adjust actions planned for the future and therefore reduce the number of violent incidents and improve everyone’s sense of well-being at school (Raise awareness).

Enhance the Programme de prévention de la délinquance par les sports, les arts et la culture [program to prevent delinquency through sports, arts and culture] from the Ministère de la Sécurité publique, which aims to provide additional opportunities for young people in difficulty and to reduce the risks of delinquency (Raise awareness).

Enhance the SUPPORT Line from the Ministère de la Sécurité publique, which is a service providing support by phone to families and school teams in order to respond to concerns related to armed violence and to provide resources as needed (Raise awareness).

Train and deploy intervention teams in educational institutions with a high risk of violence to ensure they are provided with the appropriate support and guidance (Support).

Designate, in each school service centre or school board as well as in the private network, a professional resource person responsible for coordinating the implementation of the actions in the Anti-Bullying and Anti-Violence in Schools Plan (Support).

Distribute a template for an anti-bullying and anti-violence plan to ensure that all the elements listed in the Education Act are included, and to respond appropriately and more quickly to the different needs of the schools (Support).

Require that an emergency protocol be put in place in each educational institution in case of major violent events so that all institutions have clear directives and are able to act appropriately should such an event occur (for example: fight, large-scale fighting, other student action that causes injuries) (Support).